The West Marion Trojans (9-2) were busy on the diamond last week, playing five games in six days, and are continuing to show they are one of the top teams in 3A.
After topping Perry Central on the road March 5, the Trojans had to battle back on the road the following night to pick up a 7-5 win over Poplarville. West Marion entered the seventh inning down 5-4 then scored three runs in the top of the inning before holding the Hornets scoreless in the bottom half.
Randy Ramos had a double, a single and 3 RBI, and Brett Jenkins drove in a run on a pair of doubles. Shelby Terrell went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Clay Blocker had a two-run double. Ramos went the distance on the mound to pick up the win, pitching seven innings and allowing two earned runs while striking out three.
The West Marion offense then sputtered at home Friday night and was held to just two runs and five hits in a 4-2 loss to Parklane Academy.
Jayden Duncan had two singles and an RBI, Dalton Raynes had an RBI double and Terrell and Blocker both had singles. Terrell got the nod on the bump and needed 73 pitches to get through four innings, allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out six. Trace McNabb threw three scoreless innings in relief, striking out four.
After beating Perry Central 16-1 earlier in the week the Trojans struggled to replicate their success against the Bulldogs Saturday morning during the first game of a doubleheader but pulled off a walk-off, 2-1 win in the eighth inning.
Terrell led off the eighth with a bloop hit but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Ramos and Raynes then had back-to-back singles before Blocker delivered with a base knock of his own to score Raynes and win the game. However, the Trojans were noticeably less than enthused with how they played and head coach Derrick Jerkins said he believed they let Friday’s loss bleed into their play Saturday morning.
While the offense struggled, Brett Jenkins whirled a gem on the mound, pitching eight innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and no walks while striking out six. The junior southpaw has an unorthodox delivery with a minimal stride but attacks the strike zone repeatedly to keep batters off balance.
“He’s funky. It’s not pretty but somehow effective. He’s a left-handed pitcher, so that’s always a plus. He just keeps people off balance,” Jerkins said. “He’s ate up some innings for us and been effective when given the opportunity.”
The Trojans offense bounced back in a big way Saturday afternoon in the second half of the doubleheader, pounding 18 hits in a 16-6 win over Salem.
Duncan launched a two-run homer as part of a 3-for-4 day, while Jenkins went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and Blocker went 3-for-3 with 2 RBI. Ramos, McNabb and Josh Boone each had two hits, and Terrell, Raynes and Mason Parrett each had a base knock as every West Marion batter registered at least one hit, a welcome sign for the Trojans.
“We’ve shown we play good defense, pitch really well, but we have to be able to put together some hits,” Jerkins said. “If we do that, we can be really good. Against Parklane Friday night, it was a ball game we should have won, but we just didn’t get timely hits.”
Jerkins added that the focus with runners on has been not to try to do too much but just keep the line moving for the next guy. He believes the Trojans hitting three home runs during their jamboree has made the Trojans fall into some bad habits of trying to swing for the fences.
Defensively, having Ramos enter the lineup at shortstop has enabled Jerkins to be able to move some pieces around defensively and field a more athletic team, which has shown up in the early going.
“We’re a lot better defensively than we were last year. Dalton Raynes at third base is a lot better; he’s really grown up with an extra year. Brett Jenkins at first has played well defensively,” Jerkins said. “Then we have some athletes that can move around and play several positions like Jayden Duncan and Josh Boone settling in in center field. We struggled a little bit last year at short, but (Ramos) has come in and played really well.”
The Trojans began district play Tuesday at Tylertown and were at Parklane Academy in a rematch Wednesday, but results were unavailable at press time. They will play host to Tylertown Friday night at 6:30.
Pictured Above: West Marion's Brett Jenkins throws a pitch against Perry Central. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
